March Adventure: Swim with the Current and Float Away

[lifeaftr_mods]

NEW ISLAND: AI'TUOH

Who: Anyone who feels brave...or particularly lawful
What: A city worth exploring, and a people worth meeting
When: March 10th and onward
Where: Ai'tuoh
Warnings: The themes you might associate with strict punishment and rule-based dystopias will abound, along with nonconsensual drugging/sedation for those found guilty in the streets. Otherwise, mark as needed!

The Overview: Ai'tuoh
The dawn of the 10th will see the appearance of the promised island on the horizon. The smooth, even planes of city walls rear across the expanse of sandy beach, but beyond that, no particular discerning characteristics can be immediately glean. That same morning, characters will awaken from a brief dream, wherein the Storyteller will advise that the new island accessible via mana pool - and they suggest, with some trepidation, that you do not make the location of said mana pool on the new land immediately obvious to the natives. It's clear that something has put them on edge, though they've yet to say what.

Welcome, adventurers, to the island of Ai'tuoh.

Our City, Our Rules
Ai'tuoh is home to a sprawling city, built of smooth, sandy stone. Its architecture is simple, precise, and uniform, valuing utility above all else - function to the exclusion of form. The homogeneity of the people of Ai'tuoh extends beyond the similar, monochrome spectrum of their apparel. Despite the gradations of skin color and the subtle shifts in the shades of their hair - all falling within established limits, of course - they all appear to be more or less human. But most striking of all is the stern warning emblazoned across the city's gates. It translates as follows:

May those who violate our law be cleansed in the Standing Water.

The Unerring Law of the people of Ai'tuoh can be found in the library, which contains little besides some five hundred copies of the same dispassionate lists of various laws, most of which you've probably already broken by the time you've entered.

If you plan on stopping by, we'd recommend taking the time to explore the docks first - those that frequent that particular area are rather more forthcoming to travelers. You might find someone sympathetic to your plight, willing to offer some helpful hints.

Holding Cells: Awaiting Your Trial
Those unlucky enough to be caught by the concealed militia taskforce of the city will be sedated on sight of their violation, and will wake in a small, smooth-stoned room. There are no windows, and only one door - and it won't be opening under your duress. The holding cell into which you've been deposited is beyond barebones; while clean and uniform, it lacks even the basic commodities of a bed and bucket. It seems that there's no need to plan for keeping prisoners in the long term. No one drops by to visit, and no one addresses you if they pass through. Your only company is in your cellmates, who you might be able to hear through the walls, provided you raise your voice over the soft, buzzing hum that permeates the air; a magical suppression field, to ensure that those with particular talents cannot exert them to break the law's hold.

The barracks are sorted into clusters of several buildings, each with variety of cells hidden in secluded pockets. To contrast the uniformity of the city itself, there is no such order here; the buildings are designed to be difficult to break into, and even harder to orient oneself in.

Those who are being kept in holding until their cleansing will not be in complete isolation forever. There are a number of militia who patrol the prison areas to ensure peace is being kept...and some might even be open to conversation.

---

For OOC information about Ai'tuoh and the city's laws, please see our recent OOC information post!

---

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[savedbyasong]

I am sure you will. [He notes that, they had faced such disruptions before. He wonders were from? What other islands were out there and what kind of peoples lived on them.]

Are you allowed to talk about the truth? About the reason for your Unerring Law? Or is it something that is to remain unspoken?

[aftrnpc]

[She feels a flash of pity for this young man; he seems as if he would have done so well in Ai'tuoh- and yet, he is here. Ignorant. Thus, guilty.

It is a...]

To speak of such things without witness invites falsehood. [She shakes her head, dismissing the thought entirely.] To do so is to invite disaster.

[savedbyasong]

[Falsehoods and disaster. Shion nodded even if he were a little confused as to how speaking the truth would bring falsehood.] Things that are false are always best avoided.

What do you mean by witness?

[aftrnpc]

I was not there, I shall not speak it. [And those who did- the teachers of the children, did so with an understanding that it would be the last lesson they would ever take part in.] One cannot speak of time that they did not take part in.

[savedbyasong]

I understand [No history. It had been the same in No.6. It had been the same in the Tower. History was dangerous to those who had power over others.]

Do you know when we will be taken to the water?

[aftrnpc]

[It is far more respectful a response than many prisoners have provided her, these past days. She shakes her head, response coming... far more easily than it should, to yet another of the guilty.

But that strong feeling of him belonging remains, despite how far away he may have come. It is truly as if he is one of them.]

I do not know, precisely...but you will not be held for more than a week.

[savedbyasong]

[Not more than a week. That's good information to know. They have a little while, a bit of time to think. To try and think his way out of this situation. But not too long.]

Thank you for telling me. It seems we will not be trouble for too long.

[aftrnpc]

[An uneasy shift- silence, it seems, is to be his only answer.

That's not quite the definition she would use for those who go to the Waters. But an opinion is something she will not share.

For now, she will let him believe what he will. The truth will expose itself to him. It always does.]

[savedbyasong]

[The silence is met with more silence. He will not push her further than he has.

He sits back and closes his eyes, focusing on breathing and thinking, running over what 41916 had told him.]